Skin creams, the complexion complex : Black is perfect

by Aditha Dissanayake

He calls out to her "Ssttttt".

She pretends not to hear.

"Ssst" he hisses again.

She glares at him and walks away.

"Why, am I too dark for you? (Ai api kaluda?) He wonders aloud.

End of the story. No. Rather the beginning. He buys a cream which turns his skin, over-night, into a colour almost similar to the one on this page. The next day, not only the girl who ignored him at first, but all her friends too, flock to him, like moths to a flame.

Does this sound like an advertisement? Are you trying to figure where you might have seen it? Relax. This is completely imaginary, but the way things are going in the cosmetic industry it will not be soon when more and more advertisements portraying how dark skin on a man, holds him back, whereas fair skin will mean social acceptance and even success in the chosen profession, as well as among the opposite sex, will flood the local TV channels. Who knows there will soon be advertisements marketing products called "Fair and Hairy"!

Unfounded fears

This is not surprising because "All should be fair" (regardless of gender) seems to be the motto of most cosmetic companies these days. "Our initial worry was men would be shy and not buy it. But these fears have proven unfounded" says Director of Emami Industries, Mohen Goenka whose company launched a fairness cream for men last year. "There is no doubt men are becoming conscious of their skin. We realized there was a ready market for a product like this and began selling it."

Academics like socio-psychologist, Prof Shallini Bharat, from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, speaking to the BBC recently, revealed that this complex among men of some Asian countries could be a legacy inherited from the colonial rulers or dating even further back in time, to the Aryans. "Our rulers have always been fair, be it the Aryans in the early centuries or Europeans in later years. Fairness is equated with superiority, power and influence, therefore the preference for lighter skin."

Even though, mothers are known to tell their daughters not to play in the sun and to be sure to carry an umbrella when they go out because no man would want a dark bride, even though the skin lightening obsession is more prevalent among women (ever seen a dark-skinned Miss Sri Lanka?) according to the Editor of the magazine, Man's World, Jerry Pinto, most dark-skinned men are as insecure as women, and go to equal lengths, albeit secretly, to achieve lighter skin. "I don't think men share this notion of tall, dark, and handsome," anymore.

Twenty six year old Sandeepa Bandara, says he sees nothing wrong in using a cream on his face that will make him look good.

Domain of ladies

He believes fair skin is an issue for both sexes and men are now becoming more open about using skin care products. "Previously, men believed that they are not supposed to use fairness creams and this was the domain of ladies only. However, times have changed now and we too are trying out new products to take care of ourselves".

But a Marketing Executive in Peliyagoda says he might try out a fairness cream simply out of curiosity and not because he has a deep rooted wish to be fair.

Referring to his dark complexion he says he has never been bothered about his skin colour, never been considered light-skinned even by his mother, and the only time he has ever been called fair was in his business dealings. "I think it depends from person to person, some might prefer to be fair while some might not. To me, it doesn't matter. I think you should be the way you are."

Be this as it may, Melvin Durai who claims he has never spent a rupee on skin lightning creams, never tried to stay out of the sun, never bathed in a mixture of egg yolk and milk, asserts that men these days are judged more by their looks than by their "money-earning" powers as in the past. He suggests on his website, the following multiple choice questions.

1. How do you rate your skin complexion? a. I'm so fair its almost unfair b. In my dreams I'm fair c. it's fair to say I'm fairly dark d. In my nightmares I'm dark. e. This question is unfair.

2. What methods do you use to lighten your skin? a. I regularly use fairness cream b. I rub coconut milk on my body every morning c. I pray three times a day to Aishwarya the goddess of fair skin. d. I eat five slabs of white chocolate everyday. e. I never leave home when the sun is out

3. What is your primary reason for wanting to have lighter skin? a. to attract a wife. bs. to become an actor c. to become more visible at night?

Statistics reveal 32% of fairness cream users are men. Looks as if they are trying hard to prove women are no longer the fairer sex. But, what's wrong in being black, like me?

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Which came first?

Which came first, colour prejudice or black slavery? Asks Peter Frost in his book, Fair Women, Dark Men: The Forgotten Roots of Colour Prejudice. Was it slavery that eventually created negative feelings toward dark skin (in the West)? Or was it the other way around? Perhaps these feelings already existed when black slavery first arose, eventually making it more and more inhuman.

Before becoming a mark of race and slavery, skin colour, or rather skin colour as a psychological reality, had another meaning. A sexual meaning. In earlier times, in settings where people were of a similar ethnic background, the main difference in skin colour was between men and women. This is because women have less melanin in their skin and less blood in its outer layers. In simpler language, women are fairer and men browner and ruddier.

This older meaning has been largely forgotten in modern Western culture, although we still speak of the "fair sex" and the "tall, dark, and handsome man". In other cultures, and in other historical periods, it played a key role in defining femininity and masculinity. Fair skin and dark skin meant different things to the observer. They evoked different feelings.